Olaf Holtedahl

Olaf Holtedahl (around 1911)

Olaf Holtedahl (born June 24, 1885 in Oslo , † August 26, 1975 ) was a Norwegian geologist.

Life

From 1903 Holtedahl studied natural sciences in Oslo with a focus on geology. He was on stays abroad in Germany, Russia and the USA ( Yale University ), received his doctorate in Oslo in 1913 and was associate professor from 1914 and from 1920 until his retirement in 1956 professor of geology at the University of Oslo . From 1909 to 1911 he took part in an expedition to Spitzbergen , from 1914 to 1917 he conducted geological field studies in Lapland and in 1918 on Bear Island . From 1919 to 1921 he led a Norwegian expedition to Novaya Zemlya and in 1927/28 he was on an Antarctic expedition with Lars Christensen, on which he conducted geological surveys in South Shetland, South Georgia and Graham Land. During the occupation of Norway in World War II, he was chairman of the professors' association, which in 1941 sent a letter of protest to Reich Commissioner Josef Terboven .

Holtedahl was a prominent figure in Norwegian geology. He was inspired by the polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen (who in turn promoted Holtedahl) and devoted himself to the geology of Norway as well as to the Arctic and Antarctic. His dissertation was devoted to the carbon deposits in western Svalbard (including coal). In addition to scientific works, he also wrote popular scientific works.

In 1940 he published a detailed map of the marine areas off Norway (Dybdekart over de norske kystfarvann med tilgrensende havstrøk, 1: 400,000 and 1: 600,000), which also showed the continuation of glacial valleys in the sea. His marine investigations were continued by his son Hans Holtedahl. He also published in 1952 (and 1966) a geological map of Oslo and the surrounding area on a scale of 1: 50,000 (with JA Dons) and in 1930 (published in Gotha) a geological map of the Arctic and adjacent areas on a scale of 1:20 million.

In 1951 he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London and also the Andrée Medal, the Gunnerus Medal and the Leopold von Buch plaque . In 1951 he became the commander of the Order of Saint Olav . He was a Knight of the Swedish Order of the North Star and a Fellow of the Royal Society as well as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

In Antarctica, Holtedahlfjella , a mountain range in Queen Maud Land , Holtedahl Bay , a bay on the west coast of Graham Land , and Holtedahl Hill on Deception Island bear his name. He had been married since 1912 and had a son.

Fonts

• Norges Geologi, 2 volumes, Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse, Volume 164, Oslo, 1953 (also translated into Russian, with geological map 1: 1 million)
• Hvordan lands vårt ble til: en oversikt over Norges geologi, Oslo 1951, 3rd edition 1968 ( How our country was , popular science about Norway's geology)
• Published in: Geology of Norway, Norges Geologiske Undersøkelser, Volume 208, 1960

Web links

• Norwegian biography in Store Norske Leksikon , more detailed entry
• Norwegian biography at Polar History